I started collecting tube radios in '89; and, at that time, there was still plenty of decent AM music stations in the area. By the mid '90's, everything locally had been converted to talk or religious programming. The only good station left was an easy listening station, about 35 miles away, that was run by an older man. It finally got so bad for him that he could only keep it on the air for a few hours in the morning. In the early 2000's, a group of retired local DJ's got together with this station owner and got it back going full time again. These DJ's knew their music and they didn't play the same 20 songs over and over. People were even writing letters to the editor of the local newspaper in appreciation that there was finally something refreshing to listen to on AM again. It wasn't long before the station owner passed away and operations were taken over by his son, who's only vision was dollar signs. One afternoon, without warning, the new owner called a staff meeting, informed everyone that the station was flipping to black gospel (like we needed yet another such station) the next morning and their services were no longer needed. That was in early 2006 and my area has been without decent AM programming since. All you'll hear around here are windbag political talk stations and religious stations with horrible fidelity with programming that sounds like it was recorded on a dollar store cassette recorder.
I've been seeing these SSTRAN AMT3000 AM transmitters being advertised for years and I've read nothing but good reviews about them; so, I finally broke down and ordered one. This is a kit and will run a little over $100 with shipping. There is only one surface mounted IC; but, it comes pre-soldered to the PC board. All other components are "thru hole"; but, many of them are very tiny. So, you'll probably need some type of magnifier to view them. Also, the PC board is double sided; so, you'll have to make sure to use adequate solder to cover both sides of the board. And, some connections are spaced very close together; so, use extreme caution not to bridge any connections. For best results, use a pencil soldering iron that is in the 20-30 watt range and use light duty rosin core electronics solder.
Upon first test, I was very pleased that there wasn't any smoke. After making some quick adjustments, I was able to receive a decent signal over my bench radio. I still need to make more adjustments and get the antenna situated; but, I'm happy with the progress.
For programming, I will play music (pop/rock/r&b/easy listening) from the immediate post-WWII era up through the early '80's. I'm also going to devote some time for airing OTR programming. I'm also going to work in some segments devoted to classic country. The studio will consist of a computer that will be playing songs in automation. There will also be traditional style equipment, such as turntables, tape decks, CD players, etc, so I can manually do a show, should I get the urge to do so. Obviously, I can't enjoy my own station on my own radios if I'm tied up at the control board; so, that's where the computer comes in.
I wish I had the means to run a real AM station that everybody in town could hear because I think there is a demand for the type of music that I'll be playing.
Anyway, thanks for watching and I'll be uploading future videos as I make progress.
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